Billy Merson (born William Henry Thompson, 1881-1947) was a versatile comedian who had worked in circus, music hall, revue, pantomime, and musical comedy. Maurice Chevalier, who appeared with him in Hullo, America (Palace Theatre, London, 1918), later wrote, “this man had everything”. Along with “The Spaniard that Blighted My Life” and “On the Good Ship Yacki Hicki Doola”, “Desdemonia”, performed wearing the draughty, abbreviated chiton of ancient Greece, was one of his best-loved numbers. The present main title – apparently added in recent years – incorrectly calls the song “Desdemona”. The film was one of a series of five De Forest Phonofilms produced under the supervision of Vivian Van Damm, who managed the Clapham Studios in south London.